Huskies soccer goes to 14-0

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BASALT - Battle Mountain soccer is officially on the brink.

The Huskies blanked Basalt, 3-0, Saturday to move to 14-0 in 2012. They are one win away from a perfect regular season, something no boys soccer team has done has done in school history. (The ladies did it in 2008.) Battle Mountain goes for No. 15 Thursday in Edwards against Eagle Valley at 6 p.m.

"We talked about it after the game," Huskies coach David Cope said. "'You have the chance to something that we've never done on the boys' side. And we've got an exciting chance to do it against Eagle Valley at home.'"

The Huskies took care of Basalt with a reconfigured lineup and the reappearance of Heivan Garcia.

Gunnar Wilson had a throw-in 23 minutes into the first half. Alex Trujillo was on the other end of it and gave the Huskies' a 1-0 lead.

Garcia hasn't gone anywhere - he's played all season - but he showed the talent he possesses that makes the Huskies coaching staff shake its collective head in wonder and frustration simultaneously.

Battle Mountain scored on a brilliant counterattack that started with goalie Christian Espinoza getting the ball up to Wilson, who laid it off to Garcia. The senior crushed the ball of the outside of his left foot and the shot found the perfect spot in the left corner for a stunning goal.

Garcia iced the game with his second goal Saturday on a nice feed from Roberto Diaz.

The reason Garcia is such a puzzle to for the Huskies is that this isn't the first time he has showed the type of brilliance on his first goal. He's had big goals in games against big opponents like Steamboat Springs and Cheyenne Mountain during his career, and he did some things in last year's second-round playoff game against Sand Creek which will go down in Battle Mountain lore forever.

There are also times when Garcia seems totally out of flow with the game and somewhat uninterested.

"Heivan is a scorer of great goals, not a great goal scorer," Cope said. "He's not a poacher who will have 15-20 goals at the end of the season, but he scores some spectacular goals. We have to find a place for him. You can see us winning a playoff game, 1-0, on a goal from him."

Battle Mountain will need Espinoza at his usual best. The senior goalie got another shutout Saturday - his fifth of the season. He's allowed just five goals all season, and only two from the run of play in 14 games.

Wilson did a nice job moving up in the attack with senior Kevin Gillie replacing him in back. Cope made the move because he is resting Joe LyBarger, who hurt his hip flexor in last week's game at Summit County. While the Huskies scored nine goals without LyBarger in two game, Battle Mountain definitely wants its leading offensive threat at 100 percent for the playoffs.